Korean Air is the flag carrier of Korea. The other primary domestic airline is Asiana. Both these, a growing list of low-cost carriers, and a number of overseas airlines service Korea. When searching for airline tickets, you might want to check with several companies and several airports to see the best price and best times for your trip. Most domestic travel websites are Korean language only, but the websites of the airlines tend to be multilingual.

Primary domestic airlines

Domestic low-cost carriers

The main airport is Incheon International Airport and located just west of Seoul on the coast. Prior to its opening, Gimpo was the main airport for the nation. Other major airport include Gimhae, which is the closest airport to Busan; and Jeju Airport, which is the sole airport that services Jeju Island.

Occasionally you might hear of plans to make a new airport closer to Busan City, but the topic has become political and goes back and forth but has yet to pass feasibility studies or a general concept phase. Equally political is talk of a second airport on Jeju Island.

Domestic airline travel used to be higher than it is currently, but the rise of bullet trains has drastically reduced the domestic transport share from airlines. The busiest domestic route, and what is cited as the busiest route in the world, is in between Gimpo Airport in Seoul and Jeju Airport. This high amount of traffic has led to early concept stage studies about creating an underwater bullet train route between the island and the mainland, much like the Channel Tunnel that connects English and France.

The Korea Transport Institute has written several books about aviation in Korea as part of their Knowledge Sharing Program (KSP) book series. If you are interested in reading them, they are available as PDF downloads below.

KSP 20 Korea’s Aviation Policies

KSP 21 Significance of Korea's Aviation Organization Development

Civil Airports

Dual Use Military/Civilian Airports

Civilian Airfields